Former Pittston Area Superintendent Ross Scarantino, among the first snared in the area's federal public corruption probe, won't get his lucrative pension.

The state Commonwealth Court has affirmed a ruling by the state Public School Employees' Retirement Board denying pension benefits to Scarantino based on his corruption conviction.

Based on his 41 years of service, Scarantino had been eligible to receive about $1.5 million in pension benefits.

Scarantino pleaded guilty in 2009 to illegally accepting $5,000 from a contractor who he later helped obtain school contracts. He served 13 months in federal prison.

State law says that public employees convicted of certain crimes are not entitled to receive their pension.

Scarantino's pension forfeiture "resulted from a breach of contract" between he and the Public School Employees' Retirement system, according to the Commonwealth Court's ruling.

The former superintendent had appealed the forfeiture, arguing the federal charge against him was not the same as the state charge that calls for pension forfeiture.

At the time the retirement system denied benefits to Scarantino, a spokesman noted "the corrupt receipt of reward for official action concerning program receiving federal funds is essentially the same as bribery in official and political matters."

Charged in April 2009, Scarantino was among more than 30 public officials charged in a sweeping public corruption probe in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Scarantino served most of his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2055, @cvbobkal

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